How live-work spaces will transform the workplace

Lola Olivo - Aug 24, 2018

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With the dawn of the digital age, it has become less important for us to have a fixed place of work. Instead of commuting into an office to spend 8 hours of our day, we can simply stay at home and work from there. Thanks to this trend of more and more people working from home there is a change in the dynamics of the workplace, and the office will begin looking less like a conventional place of work.

What is live-work?

If your home has also become your office, then you might be aware of the term live-work already. It’s basically a property that has both living and working space. They are mostly used by people who have their own small business or those who can work remotely, requiring little other than their computer so are perfect for jobs such as IT and design. There is no requirement for a fixed set of working hours, so people don’t have to get into an office for 9am and work under the supervision of their bosses.

How it came about

There are a few reasons why live-work is growing in popularity. Many of us work digitally now, so it allows for flexible working environments and hours. People previously might have had other commitments so couldn’t work full time without arranging child care, a dog sitter, or maybe they didn’t want to move to a city where their skills are desirable.

It’s also much cheaper to work from home, both for an employee and the owner of the company. The company won’t have to pay to rent a large office space, and the employee can save money on travel costs, as well as saving themselves precious time by avoiding a commute. It is more attractive to live-work as you won’t have to sit in a traffic jam, be stuck underneath someone’s sweaty armpit on public transport, or get up at 5am to make the long journey to the office.

How it can change the workplace

People no longer have to live near where they work. That can really open up the job market on a global scale. A digital advertising company might be based in France, but the people who work for the company can all be working from their homes anywhere on the planet. Thanks to super quick internet connections, we are all capable of staying reliably connected, so there is less need for many people to all gather in one place to work for a company.

It will affect the way new business startups trade in their early years. Companies can keep their overheads to a minimum as their rent and running costs will be cheaper if they work from home. This could see more and more smaller companies starting up as there is not such a large financial risk of starting a business.

The drawbacks

It can be harder to get everyone together and collectively make some decisions. Skype is a way to allow for large groups of people to communicate at the same time while not physically being together but that doesn’t always result in productive meetings that regularly happen inside companies. There can also be a struggle with motivation. It can be hard to flip a switch in your brain and make yourself work hard, especially if you don’t have a well organized and designed workspace. You’ll have to try and find a way to convert a small space in your home that’s dedicated to working to ensure you remain productive throughout the day.

More and more people are choosing to work from home which is transforming the workplace into a more flexible and enjoyable environment. The digital age allows many people to work remotely, which can promote small businesses to be created as the overall costs are lower, while it can also remove the chore of commuting to an office for employees.